An Unknown Grandma's "Chicken 'n Dumplin's

"Okay, Edward, pay attention. You're going to get some posts for dumpling recipes that have BAKING POWDER in them. You're going to IGNORE those, right? You're from Auburn, right? Auburn is the 51st state, right? Auburn was one of the states that seceded from the Union, right? And what's the definition of the Union? "A bunch of states where people put baking powder in flour and call it dumplings." That's the definition of the Union.

Recipe Instructions

First, cut the chicken in half. Right down the middle. Makes it easier to cook. In fact, I cut the halves in half. If you want you can just get a couple packages of your favorite chicken parts (more expensive than a whole chicken, however). Wash chicken good under running water.

Put chicken into a stewing pot with enough water to cover the chicken about two inches. Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat, and let it simmer until done, about 30 minutes. While it's cooking, every once in a while skim the foam off the top of the water with a spoon and sling it into the sink, then turn the chicken in the pot once in a while. While it's cooking, make the dumplings. Mix flour, salt, shortening.

Crumble it in your hands until it looks like flour "bee-bees". Add egg and water and mix it well. Pat it into a big circle, dust it with flour, and roll it out to about 1/8-inch thickness Let it rest 15 minutes. By now the chicken should be done. Remove the onion, celery stalk and carrot pieces & discard. Take it out of the pot and let it cool until you can handle it.

Remove the meat from the chicken and discard all the skin, bones and some unknown stuff. Chop the meat into bite-sized pieces. Bring the broth back to a boil. Cut the dumplings into strips about 1-inch wide (I use a pizza cutter to do this). Pick up the strips one at a time and pinch off pieces and drop them into the boiling broth. Every so often, stop and stir to make sure they're not sticking together (I use a wooden spoon to do this).

When all the dumplings are in the broth, let the whole thing cook about five more minutes, then test a dumpling to see if it has the texture you want. It should be done by now, but if the dumpling is still raw in the middle, let it all cook a little longer. Finally, add about half-teaspoon of salt and taste to see if it needs more. Now add the cream or milk and dump the chicken back into the bowl and dust it with black pepper.